Wisdom in the Digital Age
Once upon a time, information was scarce. And we needn’t even go back to the days of Socrates to experience this. Just a couple of decades back, when Google was just a startup, we had limited access to information. Remember the days when we did math with our own brains? Not anymore! The time you got lost in the woods and had to navigate out with your instinct? Let’s talk about the wisdom in the digital age.
Wisdom in the Digital Age
The rapid advancement of information technology has drastically changed our way of life. No doubt, it has made our lives easier. We are living in the digital age, and everything is at the tip of our fingers. We have access to a plethora of information just a few clicks away. Thanks to the Internet. Ask, and it is given.
Everything has turned smart, except for mankind. We think we have become smarter, but the truth of the matter is, we stopped thinking entirely. We have answers to every question, but we don’t know what questions to ask. Information overload has made the situation worse. It has turned out to be nothing more than a jumble of facts. As a result, we are vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation. More information doesn’t make you more knowledgeable. And more knowledge doesn’t necessarily make you wise. Little knowledge can be dangerous, but more knowledge can be hazardous as it may lead to mis knowing of the facts. Not so simple, eh!? It would have disheartened Socrates if he were to see this plight of humanity today.
The point is: we are becoming dumber. We have lost our ability to contemplate and think. We take everything at its face value and do not attempt to question anything spoon-fed to us. Without understanding the real questions, we are hopelessly trying to solve the problems. We may have the information that we need, but we lack meaning in that information.
Philosophy is basically the art of asking questions. But how do you ask the question? It’s simple: start as an empty cup. And fill that emptiness with knowledge and wisdom. “Know thyself” first. Realize the limits of your intelligence and ignorance. Smartphones don’t necessarily make you smart. In fact, with the answers readily available at our fingertips, we have stopped training our minds. We may look more intelligent, but inside we are growing dumber.
This is not to say that we abandon everything and head back to the Stone Age. But as long as we become slaves to machines and let them do the simple math and navigation for us, we will never know what we are missing from our lives. We are never going to know about the things that we do not know. Read that again!
Great Article!
It is…!